SocGen CEO: Cryptocurrencies’ Anonymity Is Hurting Them

Frederic Oudea, the CEO of the French banking group SocGen, stated in an interview with the CNBC television network that cryptocurrencies are not viable investments. He argued his opinion in that he feels the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies will only hurt them and keep these investments from being worthwhile. This is in spite of what he feels are potential advantages to the blockchain with regards to how it can work.

Oudea was attending the Web Summit Conference in Lisbon when he made the remarks. This comes as the bitcoin and other similar currencies have been growing in value.

Oudea particularly says that the anonymity cryptocurrencies is a great problem that could keep them from being viable. He argues that governments and regulatory bodies are not likely to actually want to consider these currencies because it is hard to identify people who are using them.

There is the concern that people might use cryptocurrencies for money laundering purposes. There are also worries that people might engage in tax evasion activities or even fund terror actions with such currencies. This all comes as people do not have to list their identities as they use them.

Cryptocurrencies have become popular for how people do not have to identify themselves before using them. A currency like this can go between parties with as little identifying points as one wants. The only real identifier that has to be listed is the wallet address of a person engaging in a transaction. Even that point could still be listed with no names involved. This has created a strong sense of concern among many investors trying to keep the cryptocurrency market under control.

While many companies are using the blockchain system that cryptocurrencies utilize, Oudea feels that such currencies are not actually going to develop any further. This leads to his belief that such currencies are not going to grow and evolve to where they might be more functional or useful for some people to utilize.

This does not mean that Oudea is fully opposed to the concept of the blockchain. He argues in his words with CNBC that a distributed ledger system could be utilized in the future. This would entail a system where a defined series of people are clearly identified in the transaction process This would allow some parts of the blockchain to be identifiable while still offering the general freedom that comes with the chain.

Frederic Oudea is far from the first major name to highly question the viability of cryptocurrencies. UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti said that he does not like these currencies although he does think that the blockchain system could be useful for things well outside of what those currencies have to offer. This comes from how the blockchain system is easy to use with many extra functions in mind and may be useful for many uses.

Also, executives at Credit Suisse recently argued that the bitcoin is a clear bubble and that the lack of protection against money laundering is a threat. This led Credit Suisse to recommend that investors avoid the currency.